BREXIT IS NOT THE WISDOM OF THE POOR AT WORK; IT IS A PRISON RIOT, AND THOSE WITH THE KEYS ALWAYS WIN
Poor and working class people have been used by nationalists and racist mavericks and the uber wealthy, even by the most corrupt corporations and big oil. Britain's break from the EU disempowers one of the only international governing bodies that has any agency to effectively regulate the activities of multinational corporations. Corporations celebrate the weakening of any democratic face of international governance; Brexit only increases multinational corporate sovereignty. The UN has almost no power to enforce laws. They can only make weak tea suggestions.The EU, however imperfect, is the only international governing alliance that holds power sufficient to regulate multinational corporations, for instance by enforcing international laws that could arrest the oil, coal and fracking industries in an effort to limit global warming. The EU has enough power to affect the nuclear and weapons industries. The EU is also the only international governing body capable of having any significant influence over the United States and its actions. We forfeit a seat at the table of those conversations with volatile power at our own peril.
The legitimate frustrations compelling poor and working class people to vote "leave" are not going to subside as a result of this catastrophe. It is exactly during the cover of a crisis such as Brexit that the richest get even richer and bury their spoils in some far away land, while the poor eat each other's faces. The grievances of England's abandoned working classes are going to become even more brutal as a result of Brexit. The divide between the rich and the poor has much less to do with the EU and much more to do with the systematic dismantling of domestic legislation that was put in place after World War II to protect people from the worst impulses of capitalism. People haven't lost their jobs and securities over the last 30 years because of the EU. They have lost them for the same reason that they have lost them in US, because legislation protecting the interests of the majority of people has been cruelly and systematically thinned, while a corrupt mogul media, wearing the lambskin of the poor, advocates for the stinking rich exactly by misleading and manipulating working class minds and votes. Corporations will simply move their business to more willing countries, and their beneficiaries will just build higher walls.
Working class people blaming poor people (in this case, immigrants and refugees) is exactly the war that the most corrupt elements would have them fight. And poor people voting "against" the wealth of London and "against" the privileged political class are only succeeding in making the lives of other poor people worse. In order for real change to occur, the poor and working classes will have to be more meaningfully engaged than just voting occasionally as Rupert Murdoch and his cronies have told them to. But how do the increasingly disenfranchised working classes do that without access to an empowering education, or decent healthcare, or a reasonable quality of life, or job security, or a safe place to live, or freedom from violence, or an honest media, all of which they have been systematically denied? Why do you think that all the world's populist racists have come out in support of Brexit? Brexit is not the wisdom of the poor at work. This is a prison riot, and those with the keys always win.
The elephant in the living room, of course, is the United States, and the country's quarter-century campaign of "mistakes" in the Middle East, which has led to over a million US sponsored deaths in the region, and which has now led to the haemorrhaging of millions of refugees, fleeing for their lives, into Europe. When will we see an international court of law hold the United States accountable for its crimes against humanity? The crisis in the Middle East remains an infected wound that the US has tried to sew closed without cleaning. The infection has now spread across Europe in the form of terrorism, fear, and a refugee crisis. Brexit is the latest casualty in 25 years of United States' criminal foreign policy, lack of accountability, and grotesque international negligence in the Middle East and neighboring states. Until the world perceives justice has been done, no balance can ever be restored. When will those responsible be held to account?

CRISIS
People of the EU; citizens, students, immigrants, and refugees, today my thoughts are with you, in hopes that you will remain strong in the face this nationalist British decree. This day may be remembered as a terrible turning point, and an affirmation of the extent to which fear in Britain has now given way to blame and desperation and xenophobia. It reveals how half of British people have little insight into the actual causes of their own struggles, or awareness as to the true extent of their interdependence with others throughout Europe and beyond. Brexit has revealed that the majority of British voters are now willing to imperil their own well-being and even the well-being of others in an infantile bid to try and shore up their own defenses. Other countries following suit will exponentially magnify this disaster. Please don’t let it happen to you. I feel ashamed of being British today.
- Anohni

Tuesday, 28 June 2016

In his interview with AthensLive, professor Mark Blyth discusses his latest book "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea", the European Social Democracy, the Brexit referendum, and the importance of Greece in the bond markets of Europe

Until the Light Takes Us is a 2008 American documentary film about Norwegian black metal, from directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. It was released on December 4, 2009.
Until The Light Takes Us tells the story of black metal. Part music scene and part cultural uprising, black metal rose to worldwide notoriety in the mid-nineties when a rash of suicides, murders, and church burnings accompanied the explosive artistic growth and output of a music scene that would forever redefine what heavy metal is and what it stands for to other musicians, artists and music fans world-wide. Until The Light Takes Us goes behind the highly sensationalized media reports of 'Satanists running amok in Europe' to examine the complex and largely misunderstood principles and beliefs that led to this rebellion against both Christianity and modern culture.
To capture this on film, directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell moved to Norway and lived with the musicians for several years, building relationships that allowed them to create a surprisingly intimate portrait of this violent, but ultimately misunderstood, movement. The result is a poignant, moving story thats as much about the idea that reality is composed of whatever the most people believe, regardless of whats actually true, as it is about a music scene that blazed a path of murder and arson across the northern sky
Find out more here: http://www.blackmetalmovie.com
You can listen to the full soundtrack to Until the Light Takes Us here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Tracklist:

Tuesday, 21 June 2016

An unreleased gem from the On-U archives that features on the forthcoming 'Sherwood At The Controls Volume 2: 1985 - 1990' compilation.
Brought together through the efforts of BBC Radio DJ Steve 'On The Wire' Barker, the sessions that birthed this track saw Adrian work with one of his heroes and big influences for the first time. Working alongside Style Scott and Dub Syndicate, they cooked up a fresh batch of rhythms for the Upsetter to voice, resulting in the critically acclaimed Time Boom X De Devil Dead LP which came out on On-U Sound in 1987

Professor of European Law at the University of Liverpool, Professor Dougan provides his viewpoint on the EU referendum, and discussed the facts and figures circulated by both the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns

Sunday, 19 June 2016

Back in my London days before leaving in 1984 (to Amsterdam first before finally coming here to Melbourne in '86) I knew Shane pretty well, having first met him when the Nips were still a going concern. I met him in a west end bar (you didn't see that coming did you?) recognising him from pictures that had appeared in the UK music inkies like the two above.The Nips first gig took place in October 1977 but I don't think I saw them until May of '78 or so but I do distinctly remember Shane asking me if I had any ideas for a logo for the band as my first job was in an advertising agency that was situated right on the corner of Cromer Street and Gray's Inn Road in KingsX directly opposite The Pindar of Wakefield (now The Water Rat) a pub that had been the site of Dylan's first Uk appearance back in 1962 and would also host The Pogues debut in '82 as well as being the venue that hosted Oasis's first London show as well and also the nearest pub to where Shane lived at the time. The first gigs that I saw by The Nips were really shambolic to say the least but I really enjoyed their singles especially 'Gabrielle'. Their third and final single 'Happy Song' had the added cachet (at the time) of being produced by Paul Weller. And then I remember Shane telling me about this new band idea he had and did I know any musicians who would be into an Irish punky trad band type of thing and as it happened I did. Sandra and her squeezebox. (That tho is another story for another time.) Unfortunately the last time I 'saw' him was out here in Melbourne probably about 20 years ago and er...it was a weird day. I was hoping to catch up with him before the gig but had a phone call from Phil Chevron saying that they were trying to er...revive him. Not a great sign but come gig time the show itself was pretty okay ending with Spider and Shane writhing on the floor belting out a version of 'White Light White Heat'. Anyway at the end of the gig having given the band twenty minutes or so to 'come down' I flashed my backstage pass and was greeted in the dressing room with no sign of Shane, Spider crying and the rest of the band in total shell shock as Shane had apparently been knocked out unconscious by Terry Woods. Spider between tears was just mumbling 'it's not supposed to be like this' over and over again. Fuck - this was a world apart from their early days playing around the traps at the Bull & Gate, the Irish Centre in Camden (at one of their gigs there I ended up helping mix the band as the guy with the PA had a broken arm and yes I resisted ALL temptation to dub it up LOL) or at Dingwalls. I actually worked behind the bar at that particular establishment and had been constantly hassling ***** ******* to book them, which he eventually did (probably just to shut me up!) Now on ******'s Facebook page he will tell you about what a great night it was etc etc but actually at the time he said it was the biggest load of shite he had ever had the misfortune to see. But hey what's a little bit of rewriting history between friends? Another couple of memories were the coach trip one St Patrick's night up to Birmingham from London with the band and friends. Now I have been told that that was an 'interesting' excursion from a few other people trying to piece the adventure together. A 'busload of alcoholic amnesia' is the collective adjective isn't it? Another stand out gig was one time when the band were playing a private party down at a friend's place, Stanley Buildings in KingsX. This was only a stone's throw from the then Pogues HQ of the Pindar and I caught up with Shane there probably around oneish and we got locked in by John(?) This was a time in the UK when by law the pubs were shut between three and five and from memory I think the band were supposed to play at maybe six or seven. With about ten minutes to get to just down the road Shane and I set off and it was probably at this point that we sort of both came to the realisation that we seemed to have lost the knack of actually being able to walk. But somehow the two of us managed to get to the party where Shane played one of the best gigs I had ever seen him do. (Strangely I still have the flyer(s) for that particular gig, one of which was used as the cover on the 'Look Them In The Eye & Say Pogue Mahone' boxset.) As well as all The Nips 7"s I also still have my first pressing with the harp sticker (of which there were only 237 copies) of the Pogue's debut single 'Dark Streets of London' on their own Pogue Mahone label that Stan Brennan put out before Stiff re-released it. What is missing, however, is the sleeve on which Cáit had written her parent's Hounslow address and phone number.Enough of this reminiscing - though I could go on about the times that Shane would threaten, while being basically unable to stand, to kneecap you 'in the name of the IRA' if you didn't give him a freebie pint when I was working at the 100 Club on the nights of the once a month (?) soul all nighter or the afternoon of the 'Death In The Afternoon' cocktails pre them playing at The Paradiso in Amsterdam or the far too many nights at The Devonshire Arms on my flying visits back to London and and...but finally I do have to say that yer man does look really well currently. It's amazing what a new set of teeth can do...though in the past I did see him a few times with his teeth fixed only for them to disintegrate again pretty bloody sharpish. (And here I really wish that I had the money to get mine done, hell I wish I had the money just to even get my totally fucked front teeth fixed...thinks to self maybe I should introduce ad sense to 'Exile'. Just kidding this blog shall forever be ad free but wouldn't my life be different if all these visitors had contributed ten cents each...oh well)

Mark Stewart appeared on the On-U Sound festival InputOutput, backed by the Maffia (Skip McDonald, Doug Wimbish & Keith LeBlanc) with Adrian Sherwood on the controls
Tracklist
1. As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade / Stranger
2. The Resistance Of The Cell
3. Forbidden Colour
4. Liberty City / High Ideals And Crazy Dreams
5. Hysteria+
Here's Adrian Sherwood's DJ set from the same festival

Includes a great interview with Scritti Politti from back in their Carol Street days and a review of a Scritti/Fall gig that I was at. Ian penman wasn't (to my ears at least) as bad as the review suggests. Penman would go on to add some saxskronk at future Scritti gigs under the name of Pee wee pascall (if my memory serves me well). This issue also features Mark Perry, Parsons & Burchill, Patrick Fitzgerald and more...HERE+REM #3 PDFPS: Would anyone have a scan of #2 to share or indeed any other of Simon Dwyer's writings. I do already have a hard copy of the Rapid Eye Movement book

I was devastated to learn of the horrific murder of Jo Cox yesterday.
Two years ago when she was thinking of trying to become an MP, she and I were amongst a small group of people invited by Ricken Patel and Avaaz to take part in an intense week’s leadership training led by Robert Gass.
I was by far the oldest person there and I found all the other participants really inspiring, they were all young passionate optimists and had all made making the world a better place their life’s work.
I had quite a few far-ranging conversations with Jo, played with her kids and was amazed at how she was able to be an attentive and loving mum and at the same time take the deep dive the course was taking us on.
She had lots of dreams of creating a more just world in which human rights were respected, poverty could be eradicated and in which opportunity was not determined by where you were born or who your parents were.
She was determined, passionate, open, always ready to listen, humble, generous with a mischievous sense of humour.
In that week she was testing herself out with us, to get some feel of just how far she might go. It was exciting to see her begin to trust her own capabilities and get a real sense of what she might be able to achieve. You knew she was always motivated to serve others, not herself, and it felt that in that time on the course, she decided not to limit herself or listen to the voice of doubt, but to trust her heart. None of us were surprised to see her elected.
We have been robbed of a potential leader, a wonderful mum and a soul that could both listen to and inspire those with whom she came into contact.
I can’t bear to think of her family and the terrible loss they now have to face.
This is what Brendan, her husband, wrote: "Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo’s friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.
Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisionous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."
We can choose a world that is based on hate, fear, isolation and separation or a world based on hope, trust and coming together. There is absolutely no doubt which side Jo was on - or which world I would want to see for my own kids and grandchildren.
Please remember her and what she stood for.- pg

The records featured here all deal with Lt. William Calley Jr., the U.S. Army officer who ordered, and was one of the many soldiers who took part in, the horrible event that has become known as the My Lai Massacre. The massacre took place in March 1968 in the South Vietnamese village of My Lai and resulted in the deaths of 300 - 500 unarmed civilians, many of them women, children and the elderly.
The widespread atrocities were initially covered-up, but news about the savage events that took place that day eventually leaked out and Calley was formally court-martialed and charged with murder.
His primary defense rested on his belief that he was following the orders of his superiors, but that's always seemed like something of a non sequitir to me. While it's not unimagineable that Calley was in fact ordered to make sure the entire village was wiped out, the slaughter of unarmed and defenseless people has pretty much always been illegal and indefensible, at least for as long as warfare laws have been around.
Calley was the only soldier convicted of war crimes for the incidents that took place in My Lai. On March 29, 1971, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor at Fort Leavenworth.
Upon announcement of the verdict many Americans were appalled, including most of those whose records are included below. President Nixon immediately ordered Calley transferred from prison to house arrest arrest at Fort Benning while his appeal was heard. State legislatures in New Jersey, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, and South Carolina passed motions officially requesting clemency for Calley. Alabama Governor George Wallace quickly named Calley an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Alabama National Guard. Here in Georgia, Governor Jimmy Carter proclaimed an "American Fighting Man's Day" and asked the state's residents to drive with their headlights on during daylight hours in a week-long protestHERE

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